Trent Zimmerman wins Liberal victory in North Sydney by-election

Trent Zimmerman has declared victory in the North Sydney electorate vacated by his once boss, former treasurer Joe Hockey.

The Liberal candidate declared victory on Saturday night, confident he had secured 58 percent of the vote on a two-party preferred basis in the by-election for the affluent seat.

"It is an incredible, humbling honour to serve as your representative in the Australian parliament," Mr Zimmerman told his supporters.

"I want to start by saying tonight that I give an absolute commitment to the voters of North Sydney, to the residents of North Sydney, I will be a hard working, effective and dedicated MP that will work on behalf of all residents in this electorate, whether you voted for me today or not."

North Sydney has been held by conservative parties for all but six years since 1900, and never by Labor.

It was held by Mr Hockey for almost 20 years before his resignation in September after the ousting of former prime minister Tony Abbott.

The Liberal's closest contenders were expected to be the Greens, which in 2013 racked up a primary vote of just over 15 percent.

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But in a surprise twist, independent candidate Stephen Ruff had secured 18 percent of the vote when Mr Zimmerman declared victory.

Greens candidate Arthur Chesterfield-Evans was running third with 16 percent.

The remaining 10 candidates all secured less than four percent of the vote each.

Palmer United Party candidate Robert Marks was the least favoured, securing just 0.4 percent of votes by late on Saturday evening.

Mr Zimmerman introduced himself to voters as "Trent" at Waverton on Saturday morning while casting his own vote.

He told reporters he had been out chatting to people across the electorate "seven days a week" for the six weeks leading up to Saturday's vote.

Voters of North Sydney, he said, were warming to the positive agenda of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull but were also concerned about how the federal government could help improve local transport and increase protections for the environment.

Mr Zimmerman said he had lived in the area for 15 years, served on the council and was "heavily involved" in community activities.

And when asked about the busy week in federal parliament and Ian McFarlane's defection to the Nationals, Mr Zimmerman swung the conversation back to local issues.

"It's not something that residents have been raising with me," he said.

"They're focused on our local plans but also Malcolm Turnbull's very positive agenda for Australia."

Votes are still being counted and a final result is not expected for up to two weeks.